Colorado § 17-1-102 - Definitions.

§ 17-1-102. Definitions.

As used in this title 17, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) (Deleted by amendment, L. 93, p. 404, § 1, effective April 19, 1993.)

(1.1) "Activities of daily living" means basic self-care activities, including, but not limited to, eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, transferring from bed to chair, toileting, taking medications, cleaning, using prison communications systems, and independent ambulation.

(1.3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 93, p. 404, § 1, effective April 19, 1993.)

(1.7) "Correctional facility" means any facility under the supervision of the department in which persons are or may be lawfully held in custody as a result of conviction of a crime.

(2) "Department" means the department of corrections.

(3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 94, p. 602, § 2, effective July 1, 1994.)

(4) "Executive director" means the executive director of the department of corrections.

(5) and (6) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 829, § 2, effective May 24, 2000.)

(6.5) "Inmate" means any person who is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a violation of the laws of this state, any other state, or the United States.

(6.7) "Inmate liaison" means an inmate's family member or attorney; a government agency; a public defender liaison, described in section 21-1-104, to the department of corrections and the state board of parole; or a representative from an organization with experience in helping inmates apply for special needs parole, high-needs prerelease planning, or reentry. The organization must be in good standing with the Colorado secretary of state for the past twelve consecutive months, and the organization's involvement must be at the request of the inmate, or an inmate's family member or attorney should the inmate be unable to make the request.

(6.8) "Licensed health-care provider" means a medical or behavioral health-care provider licensed in this state who is employed by or under contract with the department or a private licensed health-care provider who is providing or recently has provided patient care to the inmate.

(7) "Local jail" means a jail or an adult detention center of a county or city and county.

(7.3) "Private contract prison" means any private prison facility in this state operated by a political subdivision of this state or an incorporated or unincorporated business entity; except that "private contract prison" does not include any local jail, multijurisdictional jail, or community corrections center.

(7.4) "Serious impairment that limits a person's ability to function" means a medically diagnosed physical condition that is chronic, severe, and long term in nature and that causes the inmate to require assistance with two or more activities of daily living on a daily and sustained basis. Such conditions include, but are not limited to, advanced or metastatic cancer; end-stage renal disease; end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder; end-stage heart disease; end-stage liver disease; progressive neurodegenerative disease such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and intractable seizure disorder.

(7.5) "Severe cognitive impairment" means a substantial disorder of cognitive ability or mental illness that is chronic, severe, and long term in nature that results in marked functional disability, significantly interfering with adaptive behavior and causing an inmate to require assistance with two or more activities of daily living on a daily and sustained basis. Such conditions include, but are not limited to, dementia diseases and related disabilities, as defined in section 25-1-502, and Alzheimer's disease.

(7.6) (a) "Special needs offender" means an inmate in the custody of the department:

(I) Who has been diagnosed by a licensed health-care provider as suffering serious impairment that limits the person's ability to function and:

(A) Is fifty-five years of age or older; or

(B) Is under fifty-five years of age; has not incurred a class I code of penal discipline violation within twelve months before the date of the application for special needs parole; and has served at least twenty-five percent of the imposed sentence, including any earned time awarded, if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving fifty percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (1); has served at least thirty-five percent of the imposed sentence, including any earned time awarded, if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving seventy-five percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (2) and (2.5); has served at least forty percent of the imposed sentence if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving seventy-five percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (3) and (3.5); or has been diagnosed by a licensed health-care provider as having a terminal illness that is irreversible, unlikely to be cured, and likely to cause death.

(II) Who has been determined by a licensed health-care provider as suffering from severe cognitive impairment and:

(A) Is fifty-five years of age or older; or

(B) Is under fifty-five years of age; has not incurred a class I code of penal discipline violation within twelve months before the date of the application for special needs parole; and has served at least twenty-five percent of the imposed sentence, including any earned time awarded, if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving fifty percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (1); has served at least thirty-five percent of the imposed sentence, including any earned time awarded, if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving seventy-five percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (2) and (2.5); has served at least forty percent of the imposed sentence if the inmate is eligible for parole after serving seventy-five percent of the imposed sentence pursuant to section 17-22.5-403 (3) and (3.5); or has been diagnosed by a licensed health-care provider as having a terminal illness that is irreversible, unlikely to be cured, and likely to cause death.

(III) Who is sixty-four years of age or older and has served at least twenty years of the person's sentence and was not convicted of a class 1 or class 2 felony for a crime as defined in section 24-4.1-302 (1); unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in section 16-22-102 (9); a crime that includes domestic violence, as defined in section 18-6-800.3 (1); or stalking, as described in section 18-3-602.

(b) (I) Notwithstanding subsection (7.6)(a) of this section, "special needs offender" does not include an inmate who:

(A) Was convicted of a class 1 felony and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole and the inmate has served fewer than twenty calendar years in a department of corrections facility for the offense;

(B) Was convicted of a class 1 felony and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; or

(C) Was convicted of a class 2 felony crime of violence as described in section 18-1.3-406 and the inmate has served fewer than ten calendar years in a department of corrections facility for the offense.

(II) This subsection (7.6)(b) does not apply to an inmate who has been diagnosed by a licensed health-care provider as having a terminal illness that is irreversible, unlikely to be cured, and likely to cause death.

(8) "State inmate" means any person who is sentenced by the state to a term of imprisonment in a correctional facility or who is sentenced to a term of imprisonment pursuant to section 16-11-308.5, C.R.S.

(8.5) "Tampering" means intentionally attempting to disable, damage, or destroy an electronic monitoring device so as to render the device nonfunctional in order to avoid supervision.

(9) "Warden" means the administrative head of a correctional facility.

Source: L. 77: Entire title R&RE, p. 904, § 10, effective August 1. L. 79: Entire section R&RE, p. 685, § 21, effective July 1. L. 91: (1) amended and (1.3), (1.7), and (5) to (8) added, p. 336, § 1, effective May 24. L. 93: (1), (1.3), and (7) amended, p. 404, § 1, effective April 19. L. 94: (3) amended and (9) added, p. 602, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2000: (5), (6), (8), and (9) amended and (6.5) and (7.3) added, p. 829, § 2, effective May 24; (7.5) added, p. 1495, § 1, effective July 1, 2001. L. 2002: (7.5)(b)(II) and (7.5)(b)(III) amended, p. 1499, § 156, effective October 1. L. 2003: (7.5)(a) amended, p. 1910, § 1, effective August 6. L. 2006: (7.5)(a)(I) amended, p. 1398, § 44, effective August 7. L. 2011: (7.5) amended, (SB 11-241), ch. 200, p. 831, § 1, effective May 23. L. 2014: (8.5) added, (HB 14-1044), ch. 199, p. 727, § 1, effective May 15. L. 2017: IP, (7.5)(a)(I), and (7.5)(a)(II) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1301, § 128, effective May 25. L. 2018: (7.5)(a)(I) and (7.5)(a)(II) amended and (7.5)(a)(IV) added, (HB 18-1109), ch. 139, p. 912, § 1, effective April 23. L. 2019: (7.5)(a)(IV) amended, (SB 19-223), ch. 227, p. 2292, § 18, effective July 1. L. 2020: (7.3) amended, (HB 20-1019), ch. 9, p. 23, § 1, effective March 6. L. 2021: (6.7) and (7.4) added and (7.5) amended, (SB 21-146), ch. 459, p. 3076, § 1, effective July 6. L. 2025: (1.1), (6.8), and (7.6) added and (6.7), (7.4), and (7.5) amended, (SB 25-190), ch. 286, p. 1473, § 2, effective August 6. L. 2026: (7.6)(b)(II) amended, (SB 26-169), ch. 311, p. 1800, § 13, effective August 12.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act amending subsections (7.5)(b)(II) and (7.5)(b)(III), see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2002. For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.